GREEN LANTERN: EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
by johnelbe
Summary: A DC2 Universe special.The conclusion is here with one shocking moment after another.Green Lantern commits a crime on live television and Wonder Woman is called in to take him down at any cost.Hal wants his life back but has to escape from the Rock first!
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Notes-**_This story is in **DC2** continuity and takes place several months after the ongoing Green Lantern series issue #3._

* * *

**_Green Lantern: _Eye of the Beholder, Part One (of 3) _"Paint it Black"_**

"Why won't you just die?" The woman screamed as she shot another deadly energy beam at Green Lantern. Hal was forced to the ground as the woman came up behind him and kicked at the protective force field that generated from his ring. The man with her looked down at him and smiled "Don't be rude. My wife asked you a question!"

Hal tried to stand up but was unable to. He knew that the ring was the only thing that kept him coherent at the moment. What did she keep going on about? He swore she was complaining about the Queen of Hearts? He looked up and saw that she had pulled another jewel from her pouch. He didn't know how much more of this madness he could take. There was a buzzing in his ears that the ring couldn't completely silence.

"Maybe this one?" The woman spoke as she lifted up the small amber colored gemstone and pointed it at him.

Hal looked up just in time to see a yellow beam of light shoot out from the jewel in her hand. He closed his eyes and cringed. This had been a bad day that had quickly gotten worse…

* * *

_**Several weeks earlier…**_

Hal couldn't help but smile as he flew through the sky and looked down at the early morning commuters in Coast City. The sun was rising and it was the dawning of a new day. It was symbolic of the changes he planned to make in his own life. He had returned just a day earlier from New York after defeating Parallax and successfully defending Kyle Rayner, the _'Torch Bearer_. Though in the end, it seemed Kyle had been more then capable of protecting himself.

The entire incident made Hal wonder if the Guardians had been expecting more when they ordered him stay on earth and protect the kid. If he was to be the future of the Corps as proclaimed by the Guardians themselves, wouldn't the defeat of Parallax allow him to fulfill his role and usher in the return of the Guardians? Or had the threat of Parallax been the beginning of something more? He would have to get in contact with Kyle sometime soon and see how he had been adjusting to his new role. And though Kyle would object if he knew, he would continue to use his ring to keep track of him and alert him if the Guardians made contact with him; since he himself hadn't been in contact with the Guardians for quiet some time now.

It had been over a year since the Guardian, Appa Ali Apsa left to heal from his injuries and devise a plan to retake OA from a group called the Manhunters. Hal had stood ready ever since, waiting to be called back to duty. He questioned the ring on occasion concerning the status of OA and the Guardians, even Kiliwog who Hal hadn't seen or heard from in quiet some time as well. The ghostly voice of Abin Sur always replied with the same answer:

_Status unknown, no further information available._

In the meantime Hal was determined to get his life back in order and move forward. The first order of business was to settle things between him and a certain blond DEO agent, Chloe Sullivan. He had decided that it would be best to end things between them before things got out of hand. It was a decision he made shortly after taking off to New York. Of course he found that decision was easier when he was on the other side of the country. When he got back home he suddenly felt guilty. Had Chloe not spent that one night at his apartment she would not have gotten involved with Sinestro or Nero in the first place. Facing her meant facing that guilt head on.

The day after returning from New York he called her and asked if she would meet with him. She was still in town but had planned to fly out of Coast City the next morning, after preparing her reports for her superiors back at the DEO.

She was already seated in a booth at the diner when he got there. Her back was to him as he walked up behind her. He paused for a brief moment as he caught a whiff of her perfume that seemed to linger in the air around her. He thought again how this had been a much easier decision to make when he was on the other side of the country.

He slid into the seat across from her and smiled as she looked up from the paper she was reading. "Sorry to keep you waiting. I had an early appointment with the building manager concerning the repairs that need done on my apartment."

" Yeah. Faraday wasn't pleased but the DEO is picking up the tab on that regardless." She said putting the paper down.

" Well it was a little hard to explain the damages to the manager but I could have covered the cost."

"It was just one of many operational expenses to add to the list that I spent half the morning filing paperwork for. The kinds of things _superheroes_ never have to deal with." She said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Hal watched her eyes as she spoke and then looked away. They appeared deeper then he remembered. Angier perhaps. He wanted to ask how she was coping since the incident. It appeared that she was back to business like she had been when they first met. More closed off and guarded unlike the other night that had spent together. Hal was a little taken back but it stood to reason after what she had gone through.

Hal sat there glancing over at the waitress across the restaurant and then down at the table in front of him avoiding eye contact with Chloe the entire time, until she spoke again a minute later. "Why is that you are the fearless hero when dealing with the likes of Doctor Polaris or Sinestro but when it comes to saying what's on your mind you bury you head under the covers like your hiding from the boogie man?"

"I'm not sure I follow?"

"You asked me here for a reason Hal."

He did find it surprisingly hard as she sat directly across from him. It was at that moment, when he half wished that his ring would chime to life and alert him that another crazy villain with delusions of world domination, was calling him out. When it became apparent that no such crisis was going to save him, he responded. "I knew that you were leaving town soon and I didn't want to leave things between us unsettled. I also wanted to see if you were ok considering what you went through."

"I told you I was fine on the phone. I was a little roughed up and a lot scared, but I can deal. I have before." Chloe said as Hal wondered if she was trying to convince him or herself that she was okay.

"I just feel guilty. This wouldn't have happened to you if…"

Chloe quickly cut him off. " Just stop. Don't treat me like a victim Hal. I used you as much as you used me."

"So that's what this is about then?" A surprised Hal responded back.

"That's what you asked me here for isn't it? If you get me to say out loud what we're both thinking, then it's easier for you right? Ease your conscience a bit?"

"I don't…"

"Grow up Jordan. Like I said, I am nobody's victim, nor am I some high school girl with a crush."

"I never meant to imply that you were. I just…"

She took a deep breath and a slight smile began to form on her face. She reached across the table for his hand.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to take it out on you. I am just angry with myself. I made a lapse in judgment. I don't regret what happened between us but it was just a brief escape from the real world. A world that is now beckoning me to return."

He squeezed her hand slightly before pulling away. "So I guess this means we aren't going to the prom then?"

She laughed faintly. "No. I already made the mistake of waiting for another boy scout to ask me to the prom and that ship has long since sailed. This girl is all promed out."

They both began to laugh and the situation quickly became more relaxed. Hal and Chloe ordered lunch and enjoyed each other's company before finally heading their separate ways. But considering the circumstances that drew them together in the first place, Hal knew they would run into each other again. It would only be a matter of time. Time that Hal hoped would pass quickly.

* * *

_**A few weeks later…**_

"Wake up Jordan!" Carol's voice came screaming into Hal's earpiece. "If you keep making mistakes in sim-mode your wings will get clipped and instead of _'Highball'_ everyone will have to call you _'Groundball'_.

He gritted his teeth and kept his mouth shut for two reasons. One, he had been working extra hard at getting back on Carol Ferris's good side lately. Not only because he wanted the chance to take her out on a disaster free date, but also because she was right; he had been making too many mistakes. In a simulation the only thing you lose is the respect of your peers. In the air it could cost lives. He had to focus better. The ring granted him powers and abilities limited only to his imagination and will power. But lately his activities as Green Lantern were affecting his performance at work and this hadn't been the first time Carol had busted his chops for it.

It seemed like every nut job with a costume had decided to cash in their frequent mad scheme miles all at once, which had left Hal facing another long day after another sleepless night. Hal was drained and had discovered that lack of sleep lead to decreased willpower, making him less effective as Green Lantern, and as Hal Jordan. No wonder Batman seemed so temperamental all the time.

And as if he was being tested, the invisible power ring on his right hand began to tingle just before Carol spoke to him again, "Alright shut it down. We will reset everything and try it again tomorrow. We have less then two weeks before the bidding begins on this prototype, so we have to be executing at one hundred percent. And Jordan, I want you at one hundred and ten percent or don't bother showing back up here."

Hal quickly unlatched myself from the simulation pod. He flashed Carol a forced smile as he quickly passed the glass booth she had been monitoring the flight simulator from. He could see that she was still speaking to him but he could no longer hear what she was saying without his earpiece in. At that moment he wasn't sure he wanted to, besides he had to get some place private before he changed.

A few minutes later he was flying over the dessert toward Coast City. The ring had alerted him that two costumed bandits were terrorizing a high end shopping plaza downtown. With everything that had been going on lately he cursed the ring for alerting him to something that the local police could surely handle. At least he could take care of this quickly and be home in time for some much needed sleep before he had to be back to work. Lost in that thought he never saw the brightly colored energy beam that knocked him out of the sky.

The ring protected him from any major injury the beam may have caused, but Hal hardly saw the plus side to his situation as he plummeted toward the ground below. He quickly recovered and used his ring to project a giant feather pillow to slow his descent until he gently glided to a stop when his feet touched the ground.

Standing directly in front of him he saw the person responsible. A blond woman in a brightly colored costumed stood there with a small sapphire type jewel in one hand and a knapsack in the other. He quickly assessed that the jewel in her hand was the cause of all the trouble when he was forced to dodge another energy beam that she projected from it.

"Why is that men never understand a woman's needs?" She spouted as she turned away. "Do I ask for much? I don't think so!"

Hal projected a giant fish bowl around the woman trapping her inside. It appeared that most of people in the shopping area had fled and no one had been hurt. The ring was unable to identify the source of power from the jeweled weapon in her possession but for the moment his construct held her at bay.

As Hal moved toward her she reached inside her pouch and replaced the blue gem with a red one. Pointing down toward the ground, she used it to shatter the bowl and break free.

"You are just like my husband! Always trying to hold me down! My mother said never marry a man like your father, but I didn't listen to her."

Surprised at how quickly she moved, Hal barely dodged another blast, this time from an orange gem that shot out hot spikes that burned as they whizzed by his head. How many different stones did she have in that bag? Before Hal had time to think, he felt himself being forced off the ground. He looked up and saw a man floating above him holding an unusual looking gun that shot out numerous beams of light that had attached to his arms and legs, pulling him further into the air.

"You will have to forgive my wife, Jewelee." The man yelled out, "It seems that instead of wanting to go after something of value, on a whim she thought it would be cool to rob a gallery that contained old books."

"You are a moron Punch!" Jewelee yelled as she waved her fist in the air. "If you ever took the time to read the classics you would see the value here. This is a first edition copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland you dim wit! It will fetch a million dollars easy!"

Punch and Jewelee? Maybe it was the lack of sleep but Hal began to wonder as he struggled to free himself, if this was his rings idea of a joke. These two seemed more interested in squabbling with each other then anything else. Which was a good thing because Hal feared that if they focused on something other then each other they might be able to cause some real damage with the weapons in their possession. Hal finally pulled away and landed back down on the ground. Punch followed him down. He pointed his gun toward Hal.

"Wait." Hal ordered as he stood between both of them with his arms out, "The way I see it is that you return the book you stole from the gallery and I take you both into custody. With minor property damage and no one being hurt you both will serve minimal jail time."

Hal watched as both of them stood there looking at him. Was it going to be this easy? He began to imagine himself in bed asleep within the hour.

"He does have a point honey-bunny. And besides, it was you that stole the book so I would serve less time then you." Punch said gleefully, "I would then visit you twice a week in the woman's prison."

"So you two want to pin this whole thing on me now huh?" Jewelle spoke and Hal watched her hand closely as she slowly moved it toward the pouch in her other hand. "In Wonderland the Queen of Hearts authority was often usurped when the king went behind her back to betray her! Is that what's going on here?"

"You know I love you! I would never betray you." Punch said as he slowly lowered his weapon. Hal continued to watch and wait for the opportunity to take them both down at once.

"Fine. Prove it then." Jewelle giggled, "Kill your new friend here and we'll call it even."

Hal used his ring to reach out a grab the weapon from Punch's hand. A startled Punch never saw the emerald right hook that came at him, knocking him to the ground. Hal turned as Jewelle began to scream. She reached into the pouch and pulled out a black stone and pointed at Hal. Hal projected a shield and prepared to use the same tactic to get the pouch away from her that he just used on Punch. Unfortunately the black beam that shot out went right through his shield knocking him to the ground.

"You know what the Queen of Hearts did when things didn't go her way?" Jewelee continued to yell as the jewels black beam held Hal to the ground, "She ordered a good old fashion beheading!" The black beam slowly burned its way up Hal chest toward his neck. He found it difficult to move. It was all he could do to maintain a protective barrier to keep the beam from causing any real damage.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Punch pull himself up off the ground. He had to put some distance between him and her before he could figure out a way to get that pouch of jewels away from her. A loud buzzing in his ear began to make it hard for him to concentrate.

"Why won't you just die?" Jewelee screamed as she shot another deadly energy beam at him. Hal was forced to the ground as the woman came up behind him and kicked at the protective force field generated from his ring. Punch looked down at him and smiled "Don't be rude. My wife asked you a question!"

Hal tried to stand up but was unable to. He knew that the ring was the only thing that kept him coherent at the moment. What did she keep going on about? He swore she was complaining about the Queen of Hearts? He looked up and saw that she had pulled another jewel from her pouch. He didn't know how much more of this madness he could take. There was a buzzing in his ears that the ring couldn't completely silence.

"Maybe this one?" The woman spoke as she lifted up the small amber colored gemstone and pointed it at him.

Hal looked up just in time to see a yellow beam of light shoot out from the jewel in her hand. He closed his eyes and cringed. This had been a bad day that had quickly gotten worse.

Hal suddenly realized that he had finally caught a break. Of all the jeweled weapons in her possession, ironically it was the yellow one that gave him the best chance of finally ending this ridiculous situation. He stood up as the yellow beam harmlessly bounced off of him. He watched as both Punch and Jewelee stood there with surprised looks on their faces. Before either of them had a chance to move Hal swiftly had taken away their weapons.

A brief moment later Hal had Punch and Jewelee tied up, face to face. With the rare collectors book returned and the their weapons in his possession he waited until he heard sirens approaching in the distance. As he flew away he heard her yelling at him about how he could never be a king when he constantly acted like a court jester.

* * *

_**18 hours later…**_

Hal slowly woke from a deep sleep to the sound of the phone ringing. Without lifting his head off the pillow, he reached over and picked it up.

"Hello?" Hal groggily replied as he held the phone to his ear.

"You know Jordan, I wouldn't have to call you at home if you got a lantern signal like that freak in Gotham City has." King Faraday announced loudly as if he knew Hal had been asleep just moments ago.

"What do you want Faraday?" Hal said, resting the phone on his pillow.

"If you're done with napping after your intense battle with the yuppie circus clowns, we need to talk."

Hal rolled over and sat up slightly, "I think we need to talk about your continued obsession with me. The fact that you seem to be aware of my every move may be considered stalking."

"Don't flatter yourself flyboy. Someone is always keeping an eye on the whereabouts and doings of anyone who wears their pj's out in public." The almost pride in Faradays voice gave Hal reason to take pause at the seriousness of that statement. He would have to address that particular issue the next time the JLA met. "How soon can that magic ring of yours get you to New York?"

"Why?"

"While you were playing marriage counselor at the mall yesterday, federal authorities captured a _real_ bad guy after a failed bank robbery. They are preparing to transport him back to California where he's wanted in connection to several bank robberies there over the past year. Now he's willing to cut a deal and give up information on a group of radical terrorists in exchange for few amenities while awaiting trial."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"He insisted that the only person he was willing to give this information to was you. Seems like he's a big fan of yours and talks like you and him go way back. Does the name William Hand ring a bell to you?"

"Black Hand." Hal responded.

"Bingo. Get to Broome airfield in four hours." Faraday ordered before he hung up.

* * *

The first time Hal faced William Hand was shortly after the reopening ceremony of the Coast City downtown district. That part of town had been hit the hardest during the Apokolips invasion over a year ago and Hal had spent a lot of time assisting with the rebuilding project that took several months to complete. 

Hand went out of his way to crash the party by successfully robbing three Coast City banks in the same day. His only mistake was the robberies had been too easy for him to get away with. He found that robbing banks that were owned by his father, presented very little challenge in the end. He wanted recognition for conceiving and executing the perfect crime. To accomplish that, he challenged Green Lantern to stop his next crime spree before it ended. Hal figured out his clues rather quickly and stopped Hand before the first robbery took place.

Soon after William Hand went to jail. He escaped two weeks later. Coming from a prominent family in Coast City meant very little to him since his family had disowned him after the bank robberies. William had found a new focus and that became besting Green Lantern. He knew that to beat Green Lantern at his level would take power, power that he didn't possess yet.

Several months later William Hand reappeared to cause trouble for Coast City and Hal again. He now went by the name Black Hand since he was the self-proclaimed black sheep in his family. He quickly challenged Hal, but unlike before William had developed a device that put him on par with a Green Lantern's ring and also sported a costume complete with a mask and cape. The device was able to store energy from Hal's ring and turn it into energy to power his device. Hand spent weeks committing elaborate crimes and challenging Hal to figure out how they had been committed.

In the end Hal was able to defeat him by overloading the device forcing it to shut down.  
William Hand was once again taken into custody. Soon after, he escaped again but this time headed east to Central City taking on the Flash. When Hand realized that the Flash already had enough rogues and wouldn't give him the attention he sought, he disappeared. He hadn't been seen or heard from for several months, until he surrendered to authorities in New York yesterday.

Hal found it odd that Hand had taken hostages and had been captured as easily as he was. It didn't fit his normal profile to put other peoples lives in danger. He had always appeared to commit crime to prove that he was smarter then his family ever gave him credit for. The failed bank robbery seemed doomed from the start, which lead Hal to wonder what his real goal had been. Had he allowed himself to get captured and pretend to have evidence on a dangerous group only to get Hal's attention? Faraday seemed to believe that the group was legitimate but again it led Hal to wonder how Hand would have come across this information. Hand never appeared to have an interest in causing harm to others before or being involved with a terrorist group.

Hal wouldn't have to wonder much longer as he touched down at Broome airfield outside of New York. Several miles from the main terminal stood a single Boeing 737 passenger plane that was obvious to Hal wasn't used in commercial flights any longer. It was the type of plane that was commonly retrofitted by the government to transport prisoners to various facilities across the country. He walked over to where King Faraday stood outside of a black sedan parked several hundred feet away from the plane.

"Took you long enough." Faraday snapped at Hal before motioning him inside the vehicle.

In the short time that Hal knew King Faraday one thing was certain to him, Faraday held a lot of resentment toward him. Hal believed it had something to do with the both of them coming from similar backgrounds. Both of them had followed in their father's footsteps by joining the Air Force but unlike Hal, Faraday served his country during the Korean War and earned multiple medals including a purple heart and medal of valor. Though King Faraday had never came right out and said it, Hal believed that Faraday didn't respect him because Hal had never served his country the same way he had.

After retiring from the Air Force and becoming Green Lantern it may have appeared to Faraday that Hal didn't respect authority or have pride in his country. He would be wrong on both accounts, of course, but Hal has never confronted him directly on the matter. Hal respected and honored both his country and the position he had held in the armed service. But he was now part of something bigger in the Green Lanterns Corp and when it came right down to it, Hal believed that Faraday was extremely jealous and afraid of the power that Hal possessed because of it.

Regardless of their unspoken feeling for each other, Hal took some satisfaction knowing that it was killing Faraday inside that he had to call on Hal for something. Maybe that was why Faraday sat across from him in the car with a frown on his face.

"All right. Here's the deal. You fly back to California with Hand. On the plane will be two Federal Air Marshals that are responsible for seeing that he is transported to San Francisco where he will be held at Alcatraz prison to await trial. You have until the plane touches down in California to determine what, if anything he knows about the terrorist group, the Power Revolution."

"What do you mean, _if_ anything? I thought you said he appeared to have legitimate information." Hal said as he leaned closer toward Faraday.

"Yeah well, I also said I would grant him a few perks if he gave us anything. I lied to both of you." Faraday smiled. " If he has information, great. Otherwise you get a free ride back to the left coast and some pleasant conversation to kill the time. Hand is already secured and waiting for you inside the plane. Enjoy your flight." Faraday said as he patted Hal on the leg before opening the car door.

Hal paused as he thought of something to say but chose instead to leave without saying a word. He got out of the car and headed toward the plane. Once inside he was greeted by one of the Air Marshals. He told him that his orders were to allow him and the prisoner privacy in the back of the plane, but his orders also stated that the prisoner was never to leave their sight due to his seemingly ability to escape with ease. Hal assured him that Black Hand wasn't going anywhere. Besides, they would be flying thirty thousand feet in the air making it impossible for him to escape.

* * *

Hal walked toward the back of the plane. He saw Hand chained to his seat. When Hand saw him he looked up at Hal and smiled. "Forgive me if I don't get up. I guess they take the seatbelt rule pretty serious on this flight." 

The inside of the plane had been retrofitted as Hal figured it would be. The traditional seats had been removed and replaced with seats designed to secure prisoners for the flight. Hal sat down in a seat directly across from Black Hand. Still steaming that he had been mislead by Faraday, he fastened his seat belt and didn't say a word as the plane took off down the runway.

Thirty minutes into the flight Black Hand looked over at Hal. "I guess you're wondering why I asked for you."

"Not really." Hal said finally breaking his silence, "I think you finally got bored and wanted to get my attention. That's why you made up the story about the terrorist group isn't it?"

Black Hand tugged at his restraints and began to laugh, "Is that what you think? That I would make a story up just so we could spend some quality time together? I thought you knew me better then that. Frankly, I am a little disappointed in you, Lantern."

Projecting an hourglass with his ring that he let float in the air, Hal looked over at Black Hand, "I am not in the mood for games. You have until the sand runs out to tell me what you know about this _possible_ terrorist group before you are carted off to Alcatraz."

"Alcatraz? I am impressed. I heard that they reopened "The Rock" this past year. They must have figured out that I have little trouble escaping from standard prisons. Might take me a bit longer to figure out a way off that island."

"And you can forget any deal you may have thought you had once you get there either." Hal said as emerald sand trickled through the hourglass.

"I figured as such. That Faraday character didn't seem to be on the up and up to me and he sure doesn't like you much huh? What did you do, sleep with his daughter or something?" Hand shook his head, "Regardless, I do have information and I knew that only you would act on it once you heard what it was. Does the year 2012 hold any significance to you?"

"The year that the world is suppose to end I'm guessing?"

"You see, that is the common misconception, but that won't really be the case. Sure, the old world will end, but out of the ashes of the apocalypse a new world will arise, and a year of spiritual transformation will be capped of with a new age of reason and understanding."

Hal laughed at him and continued when he noticed how bothered Black Hand became.

"Of course I don't believe in that nonsense but a lot of powerful people do, especially a group who call themselves the Power Revolution." Hand paused when it seemed that Hal wasn't going to stop laughing. "The sand is running out. Will you allow me the chance to continue without judgment or snickering?"

"By all means, continue" Hal motioned forward with his hand.

Hand grunted at Hal as he tugged at the chains that bound is hands and feet. He ignored Hal and he continued, "The Power Revolution are a group of individuals that feel that there is an agenda that needs to be fulfilled before the age of reason is upon us. A blue print if you will, of certain events that need to be manipulated in order to keep things on track.

Some of these events have already come to pass, some are to take place over the next five years. Some even sooner. A hero will fall to the dark side. Another will rise to take him down. An alien being will control the government from beneath the center of freedom's land." Hand paused again as Hal gave him a perplexed look.

"And you believe this? Really believe this to be the truth?"

"Don't look so surprised. It wouldn't be the first time. There was Lincoln, Roosevelt, Nixon, Clin…"

"I don't mean just that part. I mean the whole thing sounds too absurd for someone to believe in, someone who claims to be as smart as you. And the fact that you want me to believe it as well makes it worse."

"You don't have to believe in what their prophecy tells them, but to not take the threat they hold seriously is a grave mistake. And whether you believe that these people effectively cause change could be debatable. But changes have been occurring regardless. There is too much evidence to ignore that fact. Of course the average person is being conditioned to accept these changes with the power of suggestion."

"The power of suggestion?" Hal repeated as found himself focusing more of what Black Hand was saying. Something about the way his tone had changed made Hal realize how serious he was. Hal began to see that this wasn't the same man he faced off against in the past. Something had changed him. Something he couldn't quiet put his finger on.

"Here's an example you will certainly appreciate. Twenty people clear their throat at the same time. That would draw attention would it not? But what if it was only two or three? The power of suggestion is very powerful and no one would notice that. Think of how the world has evolved. What was unimaginable years ago now seems natural. Seeing people fly of their own accord, across the sky, is normal now. People have accepted it as commonplace. The power of suggestion again in action. People have come to except changes in their life without ever realizing that had a say in the matter."

"So your saying that the emergence of more 'super beings' is a result of the world heading toward its eventual end and people are being conditioned to accept this?" Hal slowly responded as if he was coming to a grand understanding.

"See, this is why I had to come to you with this information. I knew you would understand how grave the situation truly is" Black Hand spoke as he watched the sand slip through the hourglass seemingly at a faster rate. "But we are getting side tracked here and time is running out. The Power Revolution is a legitimate threat. Especially since the next event on their list is to speed along the natural disasters that will wipe California off the map. This is scheduled to occur within the next ten days and I don't want to spend my final moments sliding off into the ocean."

"What do you mean, your final moments?" Hal asked as he was gradually drawn to how dark Hands eyes had become. Almost pitch black and consuming.

"A doctor discovered that the cause of my headaches were due to a large tumor that had slowly began to eat away at my brain. I am dying Hal and I want to go home."

Hal was no longer looking into Black Hands eyes but saw his own eyes. In fact, he saw himself outside of his body, looking at himself sitting there. He was seated where Black Hand was and watched as his body spoke to him.

"I want to thank you Hal Jordan for this opportunity. I knew that you wouldn't disappoint me."

"How did you…" Hal asked but it sounded like it came from Hand. He realized that he was unable to move his arms and legs. He looked down and saw that he was bound with chains. His mind began to whirl as thoughts began to form. How could he see himself seated just a few feet away? He felt a strange sensation in the back of his skull, a pressure that wasn't there a moment ago. His ring was no longer on his finger. He didn't recognize himself anymore. How did Black Hand know his real name?

"Don't worry. The sensation will pass soon enough as the change becomes permanent." He heard his voice say out loud as his body stood up in front of him. "You were a worthy foe but I needed something a little more. You see I knew that you would probable see through the story about the Power Revolution but I just needed you alone and someplace private. I wasn't lying about the tumor though. I am dying…well, was dying, and I can see by the look in your eyes that you are starting to figure it out. I just pulled off the greatest escape and perhaps the sweetest robbery of all time. I stole Green Lanterns body."

* * *

_**To be continued…**_


	2. Chapter 2

**_Green Lantern: _Eye of the Beholder, Part Two (of 3) _"Even Better then the Real Thing"_**

Hal couldn't help but feel a shiver move through his entire body, a body that wasn't his own. The air was damp and cold on this thickly fogged morning. Heavy steel shackles squeezed his wrists and ankles, and the constricting metal seemed to amplify the cold. His movements were constrained, making it difficult to maintain his balance as the island ferry continued to move toward its destination. As the ferry moved closer he caught his first glimpse of his new 'home', across the San Francisco Bay.

"Playtime is over ladies." The lead guard announced to the group over the sound of the ferry engines, "I don't care where you were imprisoned before because it's gonna seem like a Holiday Inn real soon. You may have been a tough guy where you came from, a real top dog. You may have just been a troublemaker. For whatever reason, you have been transferred here to serve out the rest of your sentence. Now, your new roommates are considered the most hardened criminals in the American penal system. Their resumes boast crimes ranging from kidnapping to espionage, bank robbery to murder. Here you are nothing more then new meat and those boys are hungry!"

The ferry slowed before finally docking. Hal felt a sudden tug on his restraints as the group of over ten captives began to disembark. Hal looked up toward the cell house. As a correctional officer led him off the ferry he leaned in and whispered to Hal. "Welcome home meat. Welcome to Alcatraz."

* * *

_**Earlier that evening…**_

Panic can happen without warning. It can happen in a blink of an eye. A situation suddenly changes which causes you to react unexpectedly. A car could swerve into your lane while driving. A gunshot could go off in a crowd of people. You find yourself no longer in control of the situation. How you react determines the degree of panic you will face.

For a brief moment, Hal Jordan panicked when he realized he no longer had control of himself or the situation. But he refused to let fear consume him. He had always been fearless. He had always been in control, until now.

"I just pulled off the greatest escape and perhaps the sweetest robbery of all time. I stole Green Lanterns body." Black Hand boasted.

Those words echoed through his mind as he struggled to come to grips with what had happened. The Black Hand had switched places with him. It hadn't been a trick or an illusion, it was real. He was stuck in Black Hands body. But worse, his body along with his Green Lanterns ring had been taken over by the Black Hand.

Hal didn't have time to figure out how Hand had done it, instead he closed his eyes and concentrated. He reached out in an attempt to communicate with his ring. The ring had to realize that the person who possessed it wasn't him. But there was nothing but silence. He no longer was in contact with it.

"Such Power!" Black Hand spoke as Hal opened his eyes, "No wonder you've always been such a cocky bastard Hal. With this ring I can do anything! I will be a god!"

"You won't get away with it." Hal growled as he yanked on his restraints.

"Is that the best you can come up with?" Hand spoke as he sat across from Hal smiling, "I mean really? I would think you would be able to come up with something like 'Hey that's pretty good. How'd you do that?' But no, you sit there giving me Batman type remarks."

He was right. What could he say? He looked over where the Air Marshall's sat toward the front of the plane. One of them was staring directly at him. Had he noticed what had happened? "Hey you! Can you come back here a moment?" Hal yelled out feeling uncomfortable with hearing Hand's voice when he spoke.

"Don't bother officer." Hand waved back at him, "I think the prisoner has said enough today." Hand then took the ring and pointed it at Hal. He concentrated for several seconds until he was able to create an emerald muzzle over Hal's mouth. "Wow! That took a lot of energy. I will have to work on that some before I move on to the big stuff." Hand leaned forward a bit before he spoke again, this time almost whispering, "Don't worry Hal. I will take good care of your precious ring and your life. Hell, I might even try being a hero for a change. You on the other hand, no pun intended, won't have much time to adjust in your new life considering you're dying and all. I doubt trying to explain to anyone what happened is going to get you anywhere. I mean who's going to believe you anyway right when you look like me?"

* * *

_**The following morning…**_

Hal was brought in by ferry just shortly after three a.m., handed his issued items, and then promptly was escorted to his cell. Among his issued items was a booklet that detailed the rules and regulations that are strictly enforced inside Alcatraz. He had looked through it briefly before he was ordered to turn out his light. Hal had decided his best course of action would be to follow the rules for the time being. He would treat prison like the military. Do what you're ordered to do and not ask questions. An opportunity would present itself soon or he would find a way to make one himself.

Black Hand had been correct. No one would believe anything he said, not looking the way he did. He wasn't sure of how much time he had. If Black Hand possessed enough will power it wouldn't be long before he would be able to cause serious damage with the power ring. His one hope was that someone on the outside would know that something was wrong and come looking for him. Faraday, the JLA, someone would see through Black Hands ruse before it was too late. It would only be a matter of time. If Black Hand had been telling the truth about the tumor inside his brain, time was one thing he didn't have much of. Panic had long since been replaced by anger.

If Black Hand had the ability to switch places with him he was more dangerous then he had ever been in the past. Hal found him asking the same questions over and over again? How was he able to do it? And how did he know his real name? Black Hand had to be working with someone, but whom? And if they knew he was Green Lantern who else had the information? Too many question and staring at the cell wall wasn't going to give him the answers.

Hal laid silent in the dark refusing to give into the sense of dread that seemed to hang in the air of the musty cell.

* * *

**07:00 hours**

The cell house bell rang. Hal sat up from his bed and looked around his nine by five cell. It hadn't been a nightmare, not one that he was going to wake up from anytime soon. He looked over at the folded gray uniform in front of him with his identification number on the back. He reluctantly stood up and began to prepare himself for day one of his sentence.

**07:20 hours**

The second morning bell rang and the cell doors slowly opened. Hal stood quietly outside his cell and faced forward. From somewhere above, an order was given to stand still until the count had been completed. A few minutes later a third bell had rang. The inmates were then escorted in a single line until they reached the mess hall otherwise known as the 'gas chamber'.

**07:30 hours**

Breakfast was served and Hal and the other prisoners from his block were directed to sit in cell order along the plastic benches mounted to the floor. He sat down and looked at the plastic tray in front of him. Cold watery eggs, dried toast, potatoes, and a tin cup of orange water that was suppose to pass as juice.

"Not much to look at, but you get to eat as much as you take." The man seated next to him said, "I suggest eating as much as you can, because lunch is usually worse."

Hal poked at the food a bit before he began to eat. He had tasted worse in the military, but couldn't imagine eating this for the rest of his life.

"I saw them bring you in last night. I couldn't believe my eyes when I recognized you."  
Hal stopped eating and looked up at the man. 'You know who I am then?"

"Why yes of course I can see that you are a man that doesn't belong here, William Hand." The man said putting down his dull plastic fork and holding his hand out, "I sir am William Zard, but my trusted allies and great enemies call me the Wizard."

Hal took his hand and shook it. He then put his head down and continued to eat. He recognized the name from somewhere, possibly a villain who frequently went after the JSA back in the forties? He couldn't be certain because the man didn't look a day over fifty. He was reluctant to start a conversation with him or anyone else at this point. He was aware that there was a political type power struggle anytime a new prisoner entered a facility. He knew that people would be sizing him up to see where he would ultimately fall. What he hadn't been prepared for was how Black Hands reputation would be perceived inside these walls.

Hal looked up and saw several men staring at him. Some nodded while others smiled and winked. Hardened men, all criminals of some sort looked at him in what Hal could only perceive as approval or respect.

"There isn't much time." The Wizard said in between shoveling bites of food into his mouth, "My associates and I have been waiting a long time for someone of your abilities to come along. We would like to offer you a chance to join us."

"Abilities like mine?" Hal asked.

"Yes and trust me there will be others who will look to make similar offers, but only I can guarantee something the others can't, if you choose to help us."

Another bell rang and the prisoners were ordered to sit back and remain still as several guards went through and counted the utensils on the tables. When they were certain that everything was accounted for they ordered the prisoners to leave the mess hall in the order in which they had entered.

"We will speak again soon being neighbors and all." Hal heard the Wizard whisper as the line moved swiftly out of the hall.

* * *

Black Hand found that he was able to exert enough will power to use the ring to fly for brief periods of time. He had spent the early morning hours flying up the coast from San Francisco. He had been taking in the sights and sounds from the sky above. He had just gone through a rebirth of sorts and felt as if the whole world was his for the taking. 

He found the ring had become slightly more responsive to his commands after a few hours, but the alien technology on his finger seemed to want to resist him some. Was it capable of sentient thought? Was it aware of what had happened? Regardless he would have to break it in more. It would soon enough know its new master. As he awkwardly landed along side the highway he quickly dismissed the thought as he walked closer to a sign along side Highway 1:

**Welcome to Coast City: Home of Green Lantern! Pop. 171,005 and growing!**

"Oh this is going to be fun!" Black Hand said as he took to the air and entered Coast City.

* * *

Hal soon discovered that in the early morning hours prisoners were separated into two groups, those assigned to work detail and those that weren't. New prisoners usually had to wait up to a week before being given a job assignment. This meant that Hal would have to sit in his cell quietly for several hours before the noon bell rang for lunch. 

Once back in his cell, Hal sat and looked through the rules and regulation booklet to see if there was anything in there that might help him. Each prisoner was issued a pencil, paper, and envelopes. Hal had thought that he could write a note to be mailed out to Bruce or Clark; something that might alert them to what had happened. He then figured that the likelihood of them ever receiving it was slim at best. In reality every letter was probably screened before ever being mailed out and such a note would never leave the facility.

Hal dropped the booklet on the cell floor as a throbbing pain in his head caused him to black out

* * *

**12:00 hours**

Hal awoke to the sound of the cell house bell ringing followed by the door to his cell as it slowly opened. The pain in his head was making it difficult to see straight, but he managed to head to the cell door. He attempted to stand still as an officer walked past him doing a head count. He caught the man's eye and saw nothing but disgust on his face. Was that how it was like for these men here? Constantly looked down upon? Relentlessly reminded that the wrong decisions they have made in life would haunt them forever?

Hal glance over and saw the Wizard standing outside of his cell observing Hal. He didn't say a word as they were ordered to the mess hall.

They sat in the same assigned spots as earlier. This time Hal was unable to eat the brown and yellow colored substances that passed for food. The throbbing in his head made it difficult to hold his head up.

"Having a headache in a place like this could prove disastrous when they invade the only safe place you can retreat to." The Wizard spoke as Hal rubbed his forehead. "This new improved Alcatraz has a low pulsating energy beam that constantly keeps whatever various powers you might have, in check. It takes some time but you get use to it. In the meantime take this." The  
Wizard slowly slipped a pill under the table to Hal.

"I don't think it's just a headache. I have…" Hal paused. He decided against revealing the problem he inherited from Black Hand. "I need to see the doctor."

"Unless you are dying you will have to make an appointment. And if you think the waiting room at a regular doctors office is slow… well you better just take this anyway."

"Thanks." Hal slowed reached under the table and took the small white tablet. "If it works I owe you one."

"More then you know." The Wizard uttered as Hal reluctantly slipped the pill in his mouth.

* * *

_"This is Jordan leave a message after the tone…beep…Hal it's Chloe. I really had a good time the other day and I was hoping…well give me a call sometime. Maybe we can get together next time I am in town."_

"Oh she sounds like a tasty one." Black Hand pondered leaning over the counter as the Hal's voice mail continued to play.

_"Jordan. Pissed off at me or not I expect to hear back from you concerning what you found out from Hand soon."_

"Must be the government guy that was leaked the info on the Power Revolution. Stupid bastard."

_"Jordan, pick up. If you're home you are late for work. If you think you can just come and go as you please like some maverick you've got another thing coming mister. I want you here first thing in the morning or you can forget about ever going on another date with me or working for me for that matter."_

"Dating the boss Hal? You are a bad, bad man. Wait till she gets a load of me." Hand grinned as he dance around his new apartment.

* * *

**16:15 hours**

Hal walked down the corridor past D block and down the stairs through the open door way. When he stepped outside and into the exercise yard he had to shield his eyes from the sun. He hadn't been aware of how quickly his senses had been dulled in such a short period of time.

The excruciating pain in his head had subsided after taking the pill the Wizard gave him a few hours back. He had time to reflect and realized that it had been a bad decision to take the pill so quickly in the first place, but it had done the trick, and he was able to think more clearly. He was surprised at how easily it had become inside to give into desperation. As he looked around the yard he recognized the look inside some of the inmate's eyes. Their spirits were broken and their eyes had a glassed over shallowness about them. It was easy to think that each and every one of them deserved the punishment they received. But it made him wonder if society was too quick to judge them all as lost causes. What if one of them could have been a classical pianist or a scientist that could have created a cure for cancer? Was the world a better place without them in it? What if these men could save lives instead of take it?

Then he came to the realization that if he were trapped here for the rest of his days how many lives would be lost? How many lives would Black Hand take in the guise of Green Lantern or worse yet, what kind of danger was his family in?

Lost in thought he didn't hear the man come up behind him, "Day dreaming? That's a dangerous thing to do around here."

Hal turned to see a man standing behind him but facing the other direction. "Not much else to do here is there?" Hal responded while sizing the man up. It was easy to forget how in Hands body he wasn't physically intimidating nor did he have his power ring. He wasn't prepared to test his physical abilities in this body yet.

"For some of these fool that may be the case." The man continued to speak as he faced away from Hal, "You're not a fool are you?"

"Never been called one to my face."

"Haha! I bet you haven't. We don't have much time because yard has been cut short for two weeks because of the incident that happened a few days back."

"What incident was that?"

"There was a tussle out here. Upon its conclusion one ended up in deep lock, two in the infirmary, and one got early release. Of course he went out in a bag."

"So they cut yard time?" Hal asked.

"Yeah. Fifteen minutes a day for an entire month. If anything goes down between now and then they cut yard time out completely for another month. So everyone one has been a little gun shy and on their best behavior these past few days. They'll get over it soon enough. That's why I'm here. Wizard wanted me to fill you in since a spot opened up on the rotation."

"A spot on the rotation?"

"Yeah. You see we had a guy who was organizing a little something for a few of us and we want you to fill his spot."

"Why? What happened to him?"

"He was the one that got carried out here in a bag."

"What was he organizing for you?"

"Our escape plans. The good news was we were able to pull this off of his body before he got shipped out." The man turned around and slipped Hal a folded piece of paper, "Of course this what got him killed, more then likely, but he never talked so that was good for us. Take a look at it and see what you come up with."

"Why me?"

"Because word is you've escaped from every big named joint from here to Keystone City."

Hal knew what he was referring to. In the past Black Hand had found it relatively easy to escape from whatever facility he had been incarcerated in. What Hal didn't know was how he had managed it.

"I'll do my best and get back with you." Hal said as the man laughed at him.

"That's funny. That's exactly what the last guy said and I already told you what happened to him.

Keep what I gave you out of sight and speak to no one. We'll be in touch with you in the morning ok champ?" The man smacked Hal on the shoulder before walking away.

Hal watched as the man walked across the yard saluting the tower guards as he passed by. He stopped in front of another man who sat on a bench with a cap pulled over his eyes.

"Message delivered boss." He said stopping in front of the bench.

"Thank you Simon." Wizard spoke as he pulled his cap up, "Alert the others that we are back on. If Hand is as good as he his rep we should be off this rock by tomorrow evening."

"And if he isn't?" Simon questioned.

"Then enjoy the sun while you have it, because we will be forced to kill again." Wizard said before pulling the cap back over his eyes.

* * *

Hand had spent several hours inside Hal's apartment but he grew bored when he realized how uninteresting life was as Hal Jordan. He needed some action, but the ring had stopped working earlier in the day, and he didn't know why. 

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He yelled down at the ring on his left hand. "I know you can hear me! I order you to respond!"

_Power level at .5_ The voice of Abin Sur spoke through the ring.

"Well then I order you to recharge."

_When you need to recharge your ring, simply will your battery to appear. When it appears, place your ring to the face of the lantern and recite the oath..._

"I don't have time for any stupid oath!" Hand yelled out. He exerted enough will and a glowing emerald lantern appeared in front of him. He held the ring up to it.

_Power level at 125_

Hand stood there as he willed the Green Lantern costume around him. He looked in the mirror and nodded to himself in approval. It was a much darker costume then Hal wore with much of the green replaced with black.

"Let's go to work and see if your job is as boring as your personnel life, Hal." Hand spoke to his reflection before flying out of the open apartment window.

* * *

**17:35 hours**

Hal watched as a guard slowly passed by his cell. When Hal was certain that he was gone he pulled out the folded pieces of paper he had stuffed under his shirt. He unfolded them and held them up close to the light. His eyes grew wide at what he saw. There was a map that led to four different possible escape routes out of the prison. Each one ended in the same place, the shore of the island. Nothing explained how to get off of the island.

The new Alcatraz prison was built over the old facility, which had been a tourist attraction since its original closer over thirty years ago. The decision had been made shortly after the Apokolips crisis that there was a greater need for more high tech prisons throughout the country to accommodate the growing 'meta criminal' population. After the destruction of Belle Reve in Colorado over six months ago, a lot of the 'super villains' were transferred to the new and improved Alcatraz.

The San Francisco community was outraged but the original charter for the island had expired, which allowed the city to do what it wished for the island. The decision had been an easy one since the revenue from the prison would triple. Of course the Mayor and the Governor both assured that the new technology being used would keep the metas in check deeming 'The Rock' inescapable.

But as Hal continued to look over the plans he saw that there was a chance that they could be wrong. The question now was which of these plans was the best bet? He could see why they came to him because there was only one chance to get it right. He turned to the last page and saw the list of six prisoners including the Wizard, presumably all in on the escape plot.

The questions he found himself faced with was would he be willing to work with six incarcerated villains, allowing them to escape just so he could stop the Black Hand? How far was he willing to go to get his life back? No matter which escape route they choose it was almost certain that someone would die in the process, including guards. Was jeopardizing innocent people's lives worth that risk? Of course he could tell them that he wouldn't help them. Then the only death on his conscience would be his own.

* * *

_**The next morning…**_

Black Hand had used the ring to locate Ferris Aircraft and touched outside of the main gate shortly after seven a.m. He made his costume disappear before walking through the main gate.

He found a small thrill playing with the dual identities of Jordan and Green Lantern.  
He headed directly toward what he assumed was the main office building. He passed several people inside that either ignored him or put their heads down as he walked past them. Maybe Hal wasn't such a hotshot after all, Hand thought as he continued to walk around for a few more minutes, before he heard a woman yell at him from an open doorway.

"Jordan! Get your ass in here now!"

It was the same woman from the voice mail, but obviously in a fouler mood. Hand strolled into her office and shut the door behind him. "Just in case we needed some privacy," Hand said winking.

"I am giving you one chance and one chance only to explain what the hell has been wrong with you lately!" Carol Farris said as she tried to calm herself.

"What do you mean exactly?" Hand said with a smug look on his face. "I just got here."

"You are over an hour late today! You've blown off work several times this past week to do god knows what. At least in the past you've attempted to come up with a lame excuse. And when you've been here you made too many mistakes for me to just ignore." Carol sat back in her chair with a scowl on her face.

"He dated you?" Hand said curiously, "Sure wasn't for the conversation I bet!"

"What are you talking about?"

"So he's been blowing work off lately? I would have assumed it was because he was 'called away on duty' but honestly I think it's because you are a bitch."

Carol flew out of her chair as she reached out to slap Hand across the face. Hand was able to stop her by grabbing her wrist. He then pulled her body up against his and held her there. "Ahh but I see that the spicy side of you keeps bringing him back."

"You are an ass, Jordan!" Carol pulled away from him and took a step back. "And you're also fired!"

* * *

**07:27 hours**

First bell rang twenty-seven minutes ago. Seven minutes ago over one hundred and eighty inmates at Alcatraz waited for the second bell that signaled their cell doors would open for a head count before breakfast. That bell never came and the inmates grew restless.

Hal stood and looked out through the bars of his cell. Every inmate on cellblock D stood in front of their cell doors. Some were yelling while others banged whatever they had against the metal bars. The commotion lasted another ten minutes until things slowly simmered to a dim roar. Off in the distance Hal could hear a voice but he couldn't quiet make it out until the person speaking moved closer.

"For those of you that don't know who I am, my name is McGoohan, Warden McGoohan." Hal saw him as he slowly made his way down the corridor. "And you animals will remain locked in you're cages until I get some answers!"

"I got you're answer right here Wa-rden Mc-Goo-Hand!" That comment from the above cellblock sent the prisoners into another commotion.

"Laugh it up ladies but no one leaves their cell today." McGoohan shouted, "Keep it up and you can stay locked up for rest of the week." The prisoners quieted down rather quickly at that last statement. The Warden continued to walk until he was satisfied that he had their full attention.

"Now it has come to my attention that certain someone's fancy themselves movie stars and think that they got what it takes to beat the odds. Well this isn't Hollywood!"

Hal watched as the Warden took a few more steps before he stopped in front of the Wizards cell.

"Forty two. That is the number of attempts made by fools who thought they could leap frog the  
Rock. None of them were successful for a reason. But someone thinks it might be time to gamble again. I want the names of everyone involved in this ridiculous plot and I want them now!"

Hal watched the Warden as he stared into the Wizards cell. "Warden sir!" Hal yelled out to get his attention.

Warden McGoohan slowly turned and walked over to Hal's cell. "Ahh the new guy fancies himself a kiss ass. "Cut the sir crap and do not waste my time."

"I have the information you're after." Hal said.

"Really?" McGoohan chuckled, "Let's see, you've been here a little over twenty-four hours and in that time you're going to tell me that you've uncovered the clandestine plot to escape from Alcatraz?"

"That's right. I have the names of everyone involved and I am willing to cut a deal." Hal said as he gripped the bars on his cell door.

This forced the robust man to laugh out loud. "Do I look like Monty Hall to you meat? Guards I want everything in this pig's cell searched including him!" The warden ordered, "And if I find anything in this cell that wasn't issued to you yesterday I will lock you up in the hole for a month. I read your file Hand and discovered a couple of interesting facts about you. One, you fancy yourself an escape artist in your own right. And two, a month in the hole may be just long enough for someone with an inoperable brain tumor."

Hal watched as the man moved within arms length of his cell before he spoke again. "Now do you want to keep what's in the box or go for what's behind curtain number two?"

* * *

_**To be concluded…**_


	3. Chapter 3

**_Green Lantern: _Eye of the Beholder, Part Three (of 3) _"Be Yourself"_**

**07:42 hours**

"Alright. Now that you're away from your audience you can cut the macho posturing and tell me what I want to know," Warden McGoohan announced as Hal Jordan, in the body of the Black Hand, sat across from him in his office.

"I told you already that I am willing to cut a deal," Hal said, leaning forward in his chair. "I get my phone call then I give you the names of everyone involved in the plot to break out of here."

"I thought I made myself clear. This isn't a negotiation."

"I am not negotiating." Hal smiled. "Now where's the phone?"

Warden McGoohan gave him an awkward smile before slowly reaching behind him to pull a phone out and setting it on the desk in front of Hal.

Hal reached out for the phone just as the warden pulled away. "Where do you think you are, Hand?"

"I am in your office, sir. And might I say this is a nice pad you have here. Nothing like the facilities down the hall." Hal watched the warden's eyes. He knew he was taking a big risk confronting the man in this manner. The warden wasn't going to take having his authority challenged lightly but getting him alone in his office like this could turn out to be the break Hal was looking for. But it may be the only chance Hal would get.

"You are a funny guy, huh?" the Warden said, gripping the phone tightly. "I've come across many a funny guy in my day. How do think they all fared after serving hard time under my watch? You may already be aware that there are dampening devices throughout this prison that keep the Meta prisoners in check. Take away everything else and all anyone is left with is their spirit, which is more dangerous than any superpower. It's my job to break that spirit and you will find that I am exceptionally good at my job."

"No offense, Warden, but I won't be here long enough to even remember your name," Hal said, watching the warden's eyes. "Now I want…to…make…my…phone call."

McGoohan slowly let go of the phone and slide it over towards Hal. Hal picked up the receiver and began to dial, never taking his eyes off of the warden. A few seconds later someone on the other end picked up and Hal spoke slowly and carefully. "The nail that sticks out gets hammered."

There was a pause before the voice on the other end responded, "This is a secured line. How did you get this…" The line went dead and Hal looked up to see the warden as he pulled the cord out of he wall.

"Playtime's over, Hand." He tossed the cord onto the desk. "Now I want those names."

Hal took a deep breath before he spoke. Plan A was out the window and plan B hadn't even come to him yet.

* * *

**9:27 hours**

Hal awoke in his cell bunk to find a hand over his mouth while two other people held down his arms and legs. " So, did you enjoy your chat with the warden?" the man known as the Wizard whispered into Hal's ear.

"How did you…" Hal said as the person holding Hal's mouth moved his hand away.

"Get inside your cell? That was easy. Now killing you won't be as easy if you put up a fight."

"Wait!" Hal said, struggling to sit up. "I can still get us out of here if you give me a chance."

"Why are you talking like you have a choice?" The Wizard smirked.

"I didn't tell the warden anything I swear."

"So you guys just had a little chat and he just happened to let you go back to your cell? I don't buy it!" The Wizard spoke as he nodded to the man holding down Hal's legs.

"We should just kill him and be done with it," the man said as he continued to pin Hal down.

"I was standing right there when you told the warden that you knew who was behind the plot to break out of here," the Wizard responded.

"I only told him that because he was getting too close. I had to distract him," Hal said as he felt a sharp pain in his left leg.

"Let's kill him and cut our losses before it's too late," the man said as his partner twisted Hal's leg.

"It may already be too late, Simon," the Wizard replied.

"It's not." Hal winced from the pain in his leg. "But we aren't going anywhere if your goon breaks my leg."

"Zeiss." The Wizard motioned him to release his hold on Hal. The other man holding him down followed suit and allowed Hal to sit up slightly.

"Okay, we are going to have to move quickly if this is going to work," Hal stated.

"How quickly?" the Wizard asked.

"We break out tonight," Hal said, pulling out the folded piece of paper under his pillow. "Now, how many guards here are on the take?"

* * *

**2:58 hours**

Hal stood and watched as his cell door opened. He quickly moved down the dimly-lit hall and rounded the corner. The Wizard was correct when he said that there are always guards willing to do favors for any inmate willing to pay. It was just another blow to Hal's faith in the system he has long supported.

Getting his cell door open was a good start but he knew that it would be the easiest part of the plan. Everything else from here on out would require more than a few guards looking to line their pockets.

"Right on time." Hal nearly jumped when Edwin Gauss, AKA the Folded Man, stepped out of the shadows and appeared in front of him. "I didn't mean to startle you, my good man. I usually roam these halls at night exchanging goods with the other inmates."

Hal regained his composure. "How are you able to use your powers with the dampeners on?"

"They are severely limited but I am still able to slip underneath my cell bars and no one has ever caught on."

"That's good, but to pull this off we have to disable the dampeners completely if we want to get out of here."

"I can lead you to where the main dampener controls are, but I must warn you, there is a guard there that isn't part of the team, so to speak."

"Well I've found lately that I can be pretty persuasive when I have to be," Hal responded.

"Then follow me."

* * *

**3:28 hours**

Hal watched as the Wizard's cell door opened and he stepped out. "Well done, my dear boy. You appear to be as good as your reputation."

"We are not out of here yet," Hal whispered back.

"Damn right," Simon Ecks, AKA Doctor Double X, grunted as he came down the hall toward them. "There are less than three and a half hours before first bell and we are running late."

Hal turned around to face him. "It took a little longer to _persuade_ the guard than I had anticipated, but we still have time."

"Yeah. It seems Hand here isn't the sweet talker he claimed to be," Folded Man grunted under his breath. "I had to sneak up from behind and knock the guard out."

"Hand was able to sweet talk the warden down in his office easily enough," the Wizard said.

"Yeah, but everyone knows that the Warden has the dampeners blocked in there because it gives the poor baby headaches," Double X replied.

Hal continued, "Just like all of you, my powers were limited or nonexistent with the dampeners on. They are now being overridden but I don't know how long it will be before someone discovers the guard missing and that the controls have been tampered with. Can you make a duplicate of the guard to buy us more time?"

"I already am constructing duplicates of all us sleeping soundly in our cells," Double X spouted. "A guard drone is easy enough."

"Good," the Wizard responded. "Let's move out. We still have other members of the 'team' to pick up before we can leave."

Hal watched as the others moved down the hall. He turned and motioned to the Folded Man. "Edwin, I need you to do me a favor," he said, looking into his eyes, and then whispered in his ear. He felt his mind getting stronger with the dampeners off; he was able to use Black Hand's manipulation powers more effectively with each passing moment but the strain was forcing his head to throb. Was it the tumor inside his brain or was Hand always in this much agony? "In one hour I want you to reactivate the dampeners. Can you do that for me?"

"But I will be left behind…stuck here," he slowly responded.

"You are not ready to go back out into the world are you, Edwin?" Hal placed his hand on the Folded Man's shoulder.

"No, it is safer here."

"Yes, it is. One hour," Hal said, before turning back down the hall toward the others. The Folded Man's mind was easier to manipulate because he was mentally unstable after years of shifting back and forth between dimensions. Hal feared that the others would prove far more difficult.

* * *

**3:47 hours**

Minutes later they were joined by Zeiss. Hal recognized him as the man who took great pleasure earlier in twisting his legs when he'd got his cell visit. He also remembered reading about him in one of Batman's files. He was a powerful and dangerous man. If Bruce knew he was working with this man to escape prison he wouldn't approve. But there were many things that Hal did that Bruce didn't approve of, and before this day was over he was certain that a few more things would be added to the list. That was, if he survived throughout the remainder of the day.

Hal followed Doctor Double X, Zeiss, and the Wizard down B block toward the stairs that led to the 'Dungeon cells".

"I can't see a damn thing!" Double X stated.

"We are all blind men in a cave, looking for a candle that was lit three thousand years ago," the Wizard replied as he looked over at Hal and smiled.

"There are no lights down here," Zeiss said, pushing himself toward the front, "but as my powers return I can see clearly in the dark."

"That's why you are here, my friend," the Wizard stated as they slowly entered the dark cavern.

* * *

**3:56 hours**

The 'Dungeon cellblock' was all that remained from the previous Alcatraz. Everything had been built up around it when the prison was retrofitted. They chose to keep it so they had a place to put the most dangerous of prisoners; ones who could be locked up and forgotten about.

Hal stood and watched as two of those prisoners were released from their cells. One of them was Geo-Mancer, who possessed powers over the earth. At last count he had killed over a thousand people, the majority of them in the most painful and dreadful ways imaginable. Hal agonized over including him in the plan at all, but the others would have gotten suspicious if he wasn't included, considering he would provide their means of escape once they were outside.

Geo-Mancer stepped out of his cell. He looked over at the four men in front of him and, without saying a word, walked over and stood next to them.

"Good dog," Double X uttered under his breath.

Hal looked over at the other cell. The cell's occupant did not step out. Hal walked over and looked inside. He was shocked at the size of the creature. He had read about him but he hadn't anticipated he would be so large.

Last year, during the Apokolips Crisis, a group called the Deep Six had terrorized the San Francisco Bay area until the collected efforts of Earth's heroes drove Darkseid and his denizens away. All but one member of the team safely escaped back to Apokolips. He was captured and locked up after the U.S. government had performed torturing experiments on him.

"It is time to go, Shaligo." Hal spoke to the large green creature from Apokolips, "You are free now."

"I will never be free," he said in a low gruff voice. "I have failed Lord Darkseid and I must be punished."

Hal looked over at the others and then back inside the cell. "You were not the only one who was left behind, Shaligo. I know of another and he needs your help."

"Who is as stupid as Shaligo to get caught on this mud ball of a planet?"

"Kalibak," Hal responded. "He was captured after his battle with… Green Lantern and he has been stuck here all this time, just like you."

"Darkseid's own blood?" Shaligo laughed.

"Yes, and I imagine Darkseid would be pleased and show you great favor if you were to return his son to him. But you must help us first."

Shaligo slowly turned and walked out of the cell. "I owe you a great debt and will do whatever it is you ask of me."

"Break down that wall over there," Hal said pointing across the dark cell block.

"Once he does that, it's only a matter of time before they know what we are up to?" the Wizard said, leaning in toward Hal.

"Who says they don't already?" Hal said back. "Either way, get ready, because once we are outside this wall, the only thing standing between us and freedom is the San Fransico Bay."

The wall crumbled with ease as Shaligo pushed his way through to the outside.

"Makes you wonder why he never busted out before now?" Double X asked out loud.

"Because there is no escape from a prison you create within your own mind," Zeiss responded.

"Whatever. I just like my grunts to be as stupid as they are big," Double X said looking around. "Hey! Has anyone seen Folding Chair Man lately?"

"Forget about him. I am sure he is around somewhere. Now it's time to go," Hal said, as one by one they stepped outside behind Shaligo, who quickly kept walking until he entered the water.

"I gotta give you props, Hand," Double X said, patting Hal on the back. "You made it look easy."

"Well, we aren't gone yet, so save your congratulations until we are on the other side," Hal said, looking around nervously.

"He is right," the Wizard shouted out. "Geo-Mancer, get with making your rock bridge and let's get out of here."

"All I am saying is that I prayed to God every night to get me off of this stupid rock and here I was praying to the wrong dude all along," Double X said, moving toward the shore.

"Well there's a problem now, ain't there!" They turned and looked up toward the voice that came from the roof of the building. The yard suddenly lit up and they saw the warden along with twenty armed guards with their guns pointed down at them. " See I was just talking with God and he says he can get me out of this mess, but he's pretty sure the rest of you are screwed!"

Hal looked up and smiled at the warden. "Right on time, Warden."

"What the hell are you talking about, Hand? I am not sure what you did with your fancy talk earlier but I guarantee there won't be any misunderstandings now. Not with twenty loaded guns and a mile and a half of freezing water between you and freedom.

"Hand, so help me God, if you don't get us out of here, you won't live to see the sun rise," the Wizard sneered.

"I've got it cover-" Hal was stopped short as a penetrating boom filled the air. Hal forced a smile through the pain. It meant that the Folding Man had done his part and re-activated the damping field. "Shaligo, now!" Hal yelled out.

Shaligo rose from the water and reached out and grabbed Hal by the arm.

"You bastard, Hand!" the Wizard shouted as he grabbed Hal's other arm.

"Fire your damn guns, you idiots!" the warden yelled out as gunfire erupted all around them.

Hal watched as bullets whizzed by his head as they dove into the water. "Hang on tight. I swim really fast," Shaligo shouted out, as the Wizard glared at Hal. He was about to say something when the creature from Apokolips took off like a rocket through the water. There wouldn't be enough time for the Warden to react before they reached the shore. The plan had worked perfectly, well almost perfectly. He would still have to find a way to deal with the Wizard before going after the Black Hand and getting his life back.

* * *

**First National Bank of Coast City**

**Shortly after 8 a.m.**

"All right, everybody be cool, this is a robbery!" the gunman yelled as he spun around in a circle pointing his gun.

"Any of you freakin' idiots move…" another gunman screamed, as they ran toward the crowd of people, "…and I'll execute every last one of ya!"

The people in the bank began to panic. Some dropped to the floor while others stood motionless. Then one gunman quickly began to bark orders while his partner stood with his back to the door with his gun on the guard. "Everyone stay calm and this will be quick and painless. I want all of the tellers to place all of their small bills on the counter. I will collect the money and my partner and I will be gone before you…" He stopped mid-sentence when the door swung open knocking his partner to the ground.

"You are so screwed now, you idiot!" one of the bank patrons muttered as everyone turned to see Green Lantern standing in the doorway.

"This is one of my father's banks," Black Hand announced. "Nobody robs it but me!"

The gunman on the floor reached out for his gun but was quickly stopped as a large green hammer landed on his hand. He screamed out in pain as he felt his hand being crushed.

"You think you can outrace a bullet with that magic ring of yours?" the other gunman yelled out as he pointed his gun across the bank lobby at the Black Hand. "Maybe I'll just shoot one of these unfortunate people."

"Try it," Hand yelled back as he took a few steps toward the robber. "I am begging you to try it."

The gunman took aim at a woman on the floor in front of him but suddenly pulled the gun up and fired as Black Hand charged him. Hand pointed his ring and created an emerald replica of the gunman. When the gunman had unloaded his bullets into his copy, Hand threw the body to the floor and reached out and hit the robber with a green energy blast. Then, without speaking, he used the ring to gather up the two would-be bank robbers and placed them in a guillotine he whipped up in the center of the bank lobby.

The people quickly began to move away from the robbers, as the two of them stood helpless in Hand's trap. "I ask you, dear bank patrons. These two chose to rob this fine establishment without any thought or concern for your well-being," Hand stated to the stunned crowd who began to understand what was going on. "You have seen the evidence with your own eyes, so I ask you now to give the word, and judgment shall be passed unto them."

The guard slowly stood up and raised his gun toward Hand. "You can't be serious!" he said, just before Hand used the ring to fling a giant donut at the man, who was quickly knocked unconscious against the wall.

"I am serious!" he said, before turning to face the tellers. "Oh, and I also just recently lost my job so I want all the money put on the counter just as it was requested of you. But unlike them I will not place anyone's life in danger doing so." He looked back over at the robbers and smiled. "Except for you two, of course. Just chalk it up as a bad day, okay?"

The sound of police sirens could be heard as several squad cars pulled up and stopped outside of the bank.

"Hurry up! We don't have all…" Hand began to yell out before the entire bank rumbled forcing him to lose focus as he fell to the ground. Several bank customers yelled out as the walls cracked and the glass windows at the front of the bank shattered. Someone yelled out "Earthquake!" as another shockwave rattled the building.

Hand slowly stood up. "Duty calls, my good people. I hope you all learned a valuable lesson here today." Hand then regained his concentration and flew out of the broken bank window past the waiting police and into the sky.

When he was high enough off of the ground he looked around and saw what was causing the quake, or rather _who_. "You have got to be kidding me!" he yelled out as he headed toward the costumed menace with his fists pointed at the ground.

The man looked up just in time to see Black Hand knock him into the pavement. 

"Where are the rest of your associates, Shakedown?" Hand demanded as Shakedown slowly pulled himself off of the ground.

"I am impressed," Shakedown responded, as he dusted broken concrete off of himself. "I wasn't aware that a member of the Justice League knew of our work."

"Of course I know who you idiots are! The Power Revolution said they had retained your services. I just never thought they'd send you here. So I will only ask you this once more…where are the rest of the Masters of Disaster?"

"Sorry, Green Lantern. You may know more than you should but I ain't giving anything up to you without a fight. Besides, I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise." Shakedown said before diving out of the way.

Black Hand turned as a tidal wave came rushing toward him, knocking him backward. The water rapidly turned to freezing rain and, before Hand could react, the rain turned to ice. The sharp ice missiles cut into him as Hand struggled to generate a protective shield around himself. He reached out and blasted energy beams in every direction. One blast caught Coldsnap in the chest bringing the ice storm to an abrupt halt.

* * *

Hand stood up, as he quickly tried to assess what he was facing. The Masters of Disaster were a group of mercenaries who worked for the highest bidder. Currently they were employed by a mysterious group named the Power Revolution. The same group also hired Black Hand to take over Green Lantern's life by upgrading his powers to take over his enemy's body. He did what he was hired to do and, over the past couple of days, was slowly getting used to his new lease on life. 

He was told that the Power Revolution would contact him when the time was right. He'd begun to wonder when that would happen since he'd never met them in person or known of any way to contact them What he didn't expect was to see the Masters of Disaster here in Coast City. He suddenly recalled the story he had told Hal while he'd slowly switched places with him a few days ago:

"_The Power Revolution are a legitimate threat. Especially since the next event on their list is to speed along the natural disasters that will wipe California off the map. This is scheduled to occur within the next ten days and I don't want to spend my final moments sliding off into the ocean."_

At the time he had spoken in only half-truths and he certainly didn't believe that the Revolution really planned to attack California. He honestly never believed that they posed a real threat. He had only heard rumors of their existence and didn't believe they were real until they had had their agents make contact with him. He began to realize that maybe they had used him. Maybe their plans were to destroy California and he was supposed to assist these imbeciles in destroying the state. If that was the case, they were dead wrong. He would not sit by and watch his home obliterated. He would never be a hero but these chumps picked the wrong guy to mess with.

Black Hand clenched both of his fists as he looked up at the Masters of Disaster. There were five of them. Each one had a different super-power, related in some way to a natural disaster. He looked down at the ring on his hand and chuckled. "These poor suckers." Hand quickly took to the air and then dove down directly at them.

* * *

A helicopter passed overhead as the Wizard, Shaligo, and Hal laid low against the shoreline. Over the last several hours they continued to slowly move down the shore to avoid being seen by the local police that had been called in once word got out that there had been a break out at Alcatraz. 

"They will find us soon if we stay out here much longer," the Wizard said as he quickly stepped out of the water. "So this is where we part ways. I would ask you to join me but I see that you are a man more interested in self-preservation than spreading goodwill to others. Don't get caught or the others who were left behind will most certainly kill you. Of course if I ever meet up with you again I will kill you myself."

Hal watched as the Wizard turned and ran up toward the marina. He was too weak to stop him even if he tried, but he couldn't help but feel that he would regret not trying. He turned back toward Shaligo. "One more ride before we part ways?"

"Of course. I owe a great debt of honor to you," Shaligo responded as Hal entered the water and took hold of his wing-like fins. "A member of the Deep Six always keep their word."

"Glad to hear it," Hal said, patting him on the back. "I want you to swim south as fast as you can."

"Where are we going?"

"Coast City."

* * *

**A suburb of Coast City…**

Paul Booker was sitting in front of his television eating breakfast when the news report came on. "What the hell?" he said, as he reached over for his remote to turn the volume up. He dropped his bowl of cereal on the table next to him and promptly stood up. "Oh hell, no, they do not. That is my schtick!" he said before racing out the door.

* * *

_"This is Chopper 7 for Channel 7 News... we are witnessing live a fight between Green Lantern and a villain group whose identity we are not yet sure of... the power pyrotechnics are immense. Warning: children, the elderly, and those with heart conditions should not watch!" _Major Disaster went flying by the cockpit of the helicopter in a blur of black and gold. The reporter attempted to remain unfazed as he continued, _"We will continue to bring you updates as soon as they occur, which appears could happen at any moment now."_

* * *

"You're all a bunch of idiots!" Black Hand roared. "I can't believe I wasted my time with you!" 

New Wave turned into a thundering tsunami. Gritting his teeth with fury, Black Hand used Lantern's power to boil her, turning her into steam. She screamed in the wind. He grinned, thinking he had killed her, but she simply reformed into rain, which began to puddle on the ground.

That didn't make sense; she should be dead... He went to blast her again, but Coldsnap was suddenly in his face, hurling shards of ice meant to tear him apart. Now Black Hand understood New Wave's survival. They were coordinating their efforts as a team; protecting each other. Not such idiots, tactically, at least.

Hand blocked Coldsnap's attack easily; he was adapting to the ring's power better and better all the time... but this was annoying him. He wanted to just rip these fools apart.

Before he could, however, Shakedown was in his face, slamming his fists against Hand's shields over and over again. Infuriated, Hand used the ring to choke Shakedown, planning to asphyxiate him... but then a blast of heat struck from behind, breaking his concentration.

"You are going down," Heatstroke hissed.

Black Hand screamed out in pain. He concentrated and quickly projected a large emerald sword toward Heatstroke. Unable to move out of the way fast enough, the sword sliced right through him. His dead body was carried several feet by the sword's momentum before he hit the ground and halted to a dead stop.

"You…you killed him," New Wave screamed out.

"Welcome to the world, kid!" a suddenly recharged Hand snapped back. "Now who's next?"

* * *

**Justice League headquarters…**

Batman reached over and muted the sound on the JLA monitor in front of him and then pressed a button on the communicator device on his headset.

"This is Diana," Wonder Woman's voice echoed.

"Diana, there is a problem in Coast City I need you to respond to immediately."

"What kind of problem?" she asked.

"It appears that Hal has just killed someone."

"What?" she replied. "How?"

"I am not sure yet. But I need you to take him down now!" Batman said, as he continued to watch the news broadcast of the battle.

"I am on my way."

* * *

Before anyone else had a chance to react, there was a loud boom right in front of them as Major Disaster stood between Hand and the remaining Masters of Disaster. "Somebody mind telling me what the hell is going on here?" he yelled out. 

"Another low life looking to tussle with the Emerald Knight?" Hand spouted off. "Didn't you just see what I did to the last guy who ticked me off?"

"I did." A woman's voice projected out from behind Hand. "Which makes me believe what I already suspected. Your not Green Lantern."

Black Hand turned away from the battlefield to find a very angry Amazon suddenly in his face.

"Yeah. What's it to you, Wonder babe?" Hand said as he pushed his index finger into her shoulder.

"Batman, looking closely now I think you were right," Diana said out loud as Hand went to poke at her again. "This is worse than we thought." She reached out and twisted his finger away from her with one hand while she formed a fist with the other. Wonder Woman knocked him for half a mile with one punch. Only the ring protected him as he slammed into the ground, shoulder first, digging up grass and earth and stone.

Groggily he got up, but she was in his face again.

"Get..." BAM

"Out..." WHAM

"Of..." CRACK

"Lantern's..." BOOM

"...body!!" KA WHAMM!

"And if I don't," he taunted, blasting her with the ring, "what will you do, kill me?"

"No, just batter you into unconsciousness and effect the transfer without your interference."

BOOOOOOOOOOM.

* * *

Black Hand was flat on his back. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a familiar face looking down over him, a face that had been his up until recently. "Hello Hal." Hand said wiping the blood away from his eyes. 

"I want my body back…NOW!" Hal yelled out.

"I see that you have learned the secret to my success." Hand replied as he slowly rose to his feet, "But I also see that you are in no shape to put the mind whammy on me even if it were reversible."

He was right. Hal could barely stand much less fight. He had used every once of strength he made making it back. He had nothing left and he was out of time. The pain in his head was causing him to black out every couple of minutes. It would only be a matter of time before he finally blacked out and never woke up again. What he needed was to come up with a solution quickly before…

"I am not going to ask you again! Get out of Green Lanterns body." Wonder Woman ordered without paying any attention to Hal who stood just a few feet away in Hands body.

"Diana it's me!" Hal collapsed unto his knees, "He switched places with me and I…"

Wonder Woman looked over at him stunned, "I thought he possessing his body? This must be some type of trick!"

"It's no trick." Hal said as he slowly rose to his feet.

"Oh sure princess!" Hand yelled out, "You're not gonna fall for a trick like that are you? I mean come on! Look at him! He looks like he was swimming in a sewer."

"Silence!" She barked out at Hand, " I don't believe him any more then I believe you so I am taking you both into custody before…"

"_Use your lasso Diana." _Batman's voice said through her earpiece com-link. _"I think he's telling the truth."_

"What makes you believe him?" She asked back.

"_I received a call last night from a number traced back to Alcatraz Island. It was a coded message set up in case of emergency. Specifically between Jordan and myself in case the most powerful weapon in the known universe were to fall into the wrong hands. I think this might just classify as such a case."_

"I see it now." They said wrapped the golden cord around Hal. She looked over at Hand who was beaten too badly to resist her as she wrapped the golden lasso around him as well, "You may have possessed his body, but you were never able to steal his spirit."

"I work for very important people!" Hand yelled out as the lasso began to burn brightly through all three of them, "They will not sit still for this! They have plans for all of you!"

Hal felt the rope around him begin to burn just before he blacked out…

* * *

When Hal awoke he saw Diana looking down at him smiling. "Great Hera, it worked!" 

"Worked? How…" Hal tried to speak.

"Don't worry about that now. We have a mess to clean up here after you rest a bit more."

"Thank you." He said smiling back at her.

"Don't thank me just yet. You will be called upon at some point to pay back the boon bestowed upon you."

"Hey." He said slowly picking himself up off of the ground, "You name it, you got it. I owe you my life."

"It was not I alone who broke Hands hold over you. When the time is right they will call on you to pay back your debt to them."

Hal looked at her with concern but it soon passed, as he looked over at Hand on the ground a few feet from him unconscious. He then looked around at the damage caused by the battle between Hand and the Masters of Disaster. "What the hell happened here?"

"I am not entirely sure but it appears to be over." Diana said looking at the various members of the MOD sprawled out across the street.

Major Disaster looked over at Hal and Diana, "Hey! That was kinda fun! Any spots open up in the JLA you kids let me know ok?" With that he took off with a gust of wind.

* * *

**Forty-five minutes later…**

Hal and Diana finished cleaning up the street and made sure that all injured parties were being tended to. It had been a miracle that none of Coast City's residents had been killed. Hal turned toward Diana. He was searching for the right words to say but couldn't find any. He nervously played with the ring on his right hand.

"It's ok Hal. I know." She said before leaning over and gently kissing him on the cheek. Without another word she slowly rose to the air and blew him another kiss before turning and flying off. Hal watched until he could no longer see her in the sky.

"Well this is a fine mess you got yourself into!" Hal quickly turned to see King Faraday behind him.

"Faraday! I have had enough of you!" Hal said grabbing him by his shirt collar, "You got some nerve showing up here after what you pulled!"

"I have a lot of nerve?" Faraday pretending to seem unfazed by Hal's sudden act of aggression. "After what was broadcast all over the news, you're the one who should think twice about showing his face in public."

"You know damn good and well that that wasn't me." Hal said letting go of Faradays shirt and shoving him back a few feet.

"I know that but the news is going to have a field day with the bank robbery and the destruction of public property. Not to mention the story just hitting the wire about an escape attempt from Alcatraz."

Hal stood there fuming, "I want to speak with Hand now!"

"No can do. He is already halfway across the country by now. There are some very important people that have some questions for him and you aren't on the list."

Hal turned and began to walk away as Faraday yelled out to him, "Watch your back Jordan. Things have gone too far for me to protect you anymore."

Hal turned around, "You do the same Faraday. That's the only warning shot you will receive from me." Hal smiled before he slowly rose to the sky and flew off toward the clouds.

* * *

**Epilogue: **

**Elsewhere-**

A man closed his cell phone and sat back down at the table.

" It is over. Faraday has taken him into custody. Are you not concerned about what he might tell them?" the man asked another man who sat in the shadows.

"Hand?" the shadowy man responded. "He believed what we told him to believe. What he repeats of that is irrelevant."

" I think he started to see through the ruse at the end; that the Power Revolution was just a front for our true activities."

" Even if he knows more than he should, it won't matter. No one will believe the truth when it is proclaimed through the mouth of a lunatic. They will never see it coming until it's too late."

"And what about Hal Jordan?" the other man asked.

"It is unfortunate that we weren't able to eliminate him earlier but everything will continue as planned. The ring bearer has proven to be a formidable foe, but ultimately he will fall," the shadowy man said as he stood up. "He is but one man. One man alone cannot fight the future."

**The end for now…**


End file.
